Complete Steak Taco Dinner Recipe

For the first post on TheHomeDate we're going to be going over making an entire mexican meal from start to finish. Taco night includes taqueria style steak tacos, white rice and a bean and corn side dish with some homemade tres leches cake for dessert. Along with these written instructions is a video showing you step by step how to make and time each item in the meal.

Taco night is a good midweek date night meal plan that is easy to whip up one night after work along with some prep the night before.

Taco Night Menu

Recipe Details
Courses
Appetizer	Tortilla Cchips and salsa
Entrée	Taqueria style, skirt steak tacos
Side dishes	Rice, black beans and corn
Dessert	Tres leches cake
Wine pairing	Zinfandel, Shiraz or your favorite Mexican beer
Info
Servings	2
Total Time	60 minutes the day before, 30 minutes the day of
Cost*	$35
Cuisine	Mexican

* Estimated cost as of publication and does not include staples or drinks.

Complete Taco Dinner Recipe Video

Below you can watch a video with instructions and timings or you can read the instructions below the video.

Home Dinner Date Details

Appetizer: Chips and Salsa

Appetizer is a simple bowl of your favorite tortilla chips and a small bowl of your favorite salsa so your guest has something to nibble on while you make dinner.

Chips and Salsa Ingredients

• 6 ounces tortilla chips
• 6 ounces of salsa

Entrée & Sides: Steak Tacos, rice, beans and corn

This is a fairly simple taco recipe, on flour tortillas we're adding our marinated and broiled steak, onions, tomatoes, salsa, jalapeno peppers and a squeeze of lime juice. Served along with white rice,

Tacos and Sides Ingredients

• 4 (or 8) small, soft white corn tortillas
• 1 skirt steak (about 1 lb)
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 medium Vidalia onion (or other sweet yellow onion)
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 1 lime
• 4 tablespoons prepared salsa (hot or mild)
• 1 15 oz can of black beans 
• 1 15 oz can of sweet whole kernel corn
• 1/2 cup white rice
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 packet taco seasoning mix
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (or lime)
• butter to grease pan
• salt and pepper to taste

Dessert: Tres Leches Cake

Tres leches cake is a sponge cake that is soaked in three types of milk, topped with whipped cream. It is utterly delicious.

Tres Leches Cake Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups cake flour (or all purpose flour)
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 stick of unsweetened butter
• 2 cups of sugar
• 5 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups 2% milk (or whatever milk you have)
• 1 14oz can Sweetened condensed milk
• 1 12oz can Evaporated milk
• 1-1/2 cups heavy cream

Equipment

• A stand mixer is nice but not necessary. 
• Some mixing spoons, whisk, rubber/silicone spatulas
• Mixing bowls
• measuring spoons, cups
• 1 quart or larger pot for rice
• 2 quart or larger pot for beans and corn
• 13x9" cake pan or similar
• broiling pan for steak
• cutting boards and knives
• spatula
• zippered freezer bag
• plastic wrap
• kitchen timer
• meat thermometer

Directions

The Day Before

1. Set out a stick of butter earlier in the day to let it soften. If you forgot to do that, put a large bowl or measuring cup with about 2 cups of water in the microwave and bring it to a boil. Then put a bowl of chopped up butter in the microwave with the hot water and close the door. The butter should soften in a few minutes.
2. In a bowl combine 1-1/2 cups of flour and 1 teaspoons of backing powder. Mix well with a whisk and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Cream 1 stick softened butter and 1 cup sugar together until butter turns light and fluffier. 
5. Add 5 eggs, one egg at a time followed by 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
6. Start to slowly mix in flour mixture a few tablespoons at a time until thoroughly combined.
7. Grease 13x9 baking sheet and spread cake batter into pan. Spread and shake it around to get it to cover bottom of pan.
8. Bake cake for 30 minutes at 350F. 
9. You have some time now to clean up a bit.
10. While the cake is baking, prepare the marinade by mixing 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 packet taco seasoning, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and about 1/2 cup of water. Place skirt steak and marinade in a zippered freezer bag. Add more water if necessary to cover steak. Place bag in a bowl and place in refrigerator to marinate until tomorrow night.
11. Wash your hands and any surfaces you used after handling meat. Clean those dishes if you have time.
12. When the cake is done take it out of the oven and let it cool 5-10 minutes.
13. Combine cans of condensed milk and evaporated milk along with 2 cups of milk in a bowl. Whisk thoroughly to dissolve condensed milk.
14. Use a fork to poke holes along the entire top of the cake.
15. Slowly ladle the milk mixture over the top of the cake.
16. Cover the cake pan in plastic wrap and place in fridge.
17. If you're serving wine and don't have a wine cooler place your wine in the refrigerator.

The Morning Of

You can do this an hour or two after putting the cake in the fridge but if you prefer to do it the next morning that works too.

1. whip 1-1/2 cups heavy cream with 1 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until stiff peaks form.
2. Spread whipped cream over top of cake.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

The Day Of

On the day of the date you'll have 30-45 minutes of cooking to do. I would try to time it so that there's a few minutes of cooking still to go after they arrive.

1. If you're drinking a red wine take the wine out of the fridge now. Slice the cake up into 16 rectangular pieces and put it back in the fridge.
2. Start by preparing produce. Cut lime into 8 wedges. Chop tomato, onion and jalapeno and keep in separate containers until needed.
3. Add 1/2 cup of rice and 1-1/4 cups of water into a 1 quart sauce pan. Add salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover pot and set over a low flame to simmer. 
4. Set a timer for 20 minutes. You'll be using this timer to time the rest of the meal.
5. Start getting the steak ready. Pull the steak out of the refrigerator and place it on a pan to get it ready to broil. When the timer is at 15 minutes left put the steak under the broiler. It should need about 5 minutes on each side then a 5 minute rest. 
6. When there are 12 minutes left, take the 2 quart pot and place it over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and about 1/2 cup of chopped onions and start sauteing. Add a couple of table spoons of chopped tomatoes and as much tomato juice as you can trickle out of the container you stored it in. Add 2 tablespoons of chopped jalapeno, 1/4 cup of water from the bean can. Then strain and rinse the beans and corn, add them to the pot and stir frequently as they cook.
7. Keep an eye on the timer when making the beans and corn. When the timer reaches 10 minutes it's time to flip the steak over.
8. If you're drinking a white wine take the wine out of the fridge now.
9. Get tortillas ready to heat. Place 4 (or 8 tortillas doubled up) on a large plate. Cover with a damp paper towel and place in the microwave. Single tortillas can sometimes fall apart in the middle. Doubling up protects against that but adds calories I'd rather do without. The newer the relationship is though the more I'd be inclined to double up so everything goes well.
10. with 5 minutes left on the timer check the meat temperature. It should be about 130F at the thickest point. If it is then take it out of the broiler and let it rest for a few minutes.
11. When the timer goes off... take the rice and beans off the heat and get your steak ready for carving.
12. Heat the tortillas for 30 seconds in the microwave.
13. Slice the steak in half and save half for tomorrow.
14. Slice the steak across the grain into thin strips and then chop it up in the other direction a little
15. Get plates ready and hit the tortillas for another 10 seconds or so.
16. Lay out two tortillas, top with 1/4 of the meat, a tablespoon or so each of jalapeno, onion, tomatoes and salsa on each tortilla.
17. Spoon some rice and bean and corn onto the plate.
18. Place 2 lime wedges (for the tacos) on each plate then serve.

After you and your date are done with your main dish, plate up a couple of pieces of tres leches cake to enjoy for desert.

Acknowledgements

The tres leches cake recipe is one I've been making from allrecipes by Stephanie.